Micro-blogging refers to "blog" services which are intended for very short entries. The best-known service is Twitter, which limits entries to 140 characters of text and has tightly integrated cell phone SMS message capabilities. Tumblr.com is a similar service, without the limitations on message length or content type.
If a web site is a reference book, and a blog is a journal, then a Tumblr tumblelog is a notebook for jotting down quick notes that either don’t fit in other mediums, or which you haven’t gotten to expanding upon just yet.
Tumblr.com is similar to Twitter or your Facebook Status, but it offers a lot more than just text. You can also post photos, video, audio, chat logs, and more, using an extremely easy to use interface. A tumblelog can also automatically import your blog feeds; if you have multiple blogs, your tumblelog can serve as a simple aggregator of your posts.
If you’ve got a Tumblr account, you can "follow" other tumblelogs. You can also subscribe to a tumblelog via the RSS link at the bottom of the page (which, of course, you can replace with a FeedBurner feed).
So what are some of the ways you can use Tumblr? On my personal tumblelog, I post updates similar to what I previously would have put in my Facebook Status (I've integrated Tumblr with Facebook), I post short comments and links to sites or articles (essentially it's my mental scratch pad for things I haven't had time to expand into full-length blog entries), and I've set it up to import my blog feeds. Tumblr is easily integrated with Facebook, Twitter, and a number of other services, and there are a variety of third-party add-ons available.
On the tumblelog I've set up for the ETFO Niagara OT Local, I've set it up as a team tumblelog, allowing all the other Executive members to post to the tumblelog as well as myself. We use it for posting short comments and reminders that don't merit an official announcement or entry on our web site, and also as a way to keep members in the loop about some of what we do as an Executive.
Essentially, micro-blogs are a means of communication to complement your existing blog or web site. Your classroom blog, for instance, may have blog entries detailing upcoming trips, what you'll be teaching in the current term, and so on, whereas the tumblelog would have reminders of when permission slips are due, photos of anything interesting that may have happened during the day, and similar less formal items. The visual format of a tumblelog is also aesthetically oriented towards shorter posts. Using Blogger to post day to day homework assignments would probably look like overkill, whereas it would be a better aesthetic fit on a tumblelog.
Tumblelogs and other micro-blogs are another component of a comprehensive communications strategy. Whether it be a blog, a website, a wiki, a Yahoo Group, or a micro-blog, each tool may reach a different segment of our intended audience. Ideally, our audience will utilize all the communications tools we make available to them and become very well-informed. The real strength of using a variety of tools, though, is that each of these tools fills a niche that allows us to reach people with different communication styles.
